For over a month now, I’d been hearing about the new kid in town – d. lounge (not to be confused with D-Bar in the Renaissance Hotel). After celebrating my birthday dinner at my favorite restaurant Kagen Teppanyaki, I was eager to check out the space and pay a visit to my dear friend Warren Pang (former manager of Punk in the Opposite House), especially after hearing so much about this new bar and considering Tuesday nights are not exactly the most bumping night of the week.

Unsure if it would even be open on a regular Tuesday evening around 11pm, C-dice & I poke our heads inside and walk down a long corridor to find an intimate, high-ceilinged space covered in red brick with a tall, elegant bar against the back wall and funky leather croc sofas and modern furniture throughout.

After speaking to Warren and seeing their drink menu, I was quite surprised to discover that d. lounge has not even officially opened yet! According to Warren, for the past month, d. lounge is still in its soft-opening stage, offering private gatherings and inviting limited guests while they are still working out some pre-opening kinks and are in the process of finalizing two other sections that have yet to be open to the public. Warren may call this an “extended soft-opening period,” I call it a brilliant marketing strategy.

Yesterday’s parties were off the hook, and today we celebrated Ken’s actual birthday. Ken hosted his dinner party at Todai, which was fitting since his friends are all giants who can really make the most of this gargantuan buffet. Todai was perfect for everyone to get together and gorge on a buffet that has something for everyone…and then some.

It’s crazy how different Chinese food in China is compared to the Chinese food abroad. As a Chinese American growing up in California, I only thought of the difference between the greasy Chinese food you get take-out for super cheap compared to the scrumptious, healthy food my mom and grandmom cooked at home for dinner.

I was so ignorant before I moved to China. I had no idea there were so many different provinces, each with their own unique and specialized cuisine. In essence, I always thought Chinese food was Cantonese food.

I had no idea I’d come to China and find the food here so foreign to my palate and how sorely mistaken my preconceptions of Chinese food were. My favorite Chinese food from America is pretty much non-existant here in China and the local food here is rare to find in the US. I may know of some restaurants that serve some Sichuan food, but Hunan? Yunan? Xinjiang? Ah, the list continues. I think the closest thing to Gong Bao Ji Ding (宫爆鸡丁) is probably General’s Chicken – and that’s totally different!

My parents find it hilarious that the first thing I want when I get back to the US is dimsum. Growing up, my family and I always had dimsum brunch at least once a week, so I would definitely consider dimsum a staple food I know by heart and love to eat.

For the past two summers, Alan will take on 3 interns from UNC (University of North Carolina), who will spend two months in an entrepreneurship program to learn about start-up companies and the F&B industry in China. Through this program, the interns get an inside scoop “behind the scenes” of Alan’s restaurants, from spending time in the kitchen, behind the bar, greeting customers at the reception, and eventually serving tables. And once a week, we all get together to attend Alan’s lectures to raise discussions pertaining to the F&B industry, doing business in China, and also to learn from him and his successful business models and effective management style.

Each of the three interns were posted in different venues, and with each venue, the interns made a strong effort to invest themselves and make the most of this unique opportunity- proactive, motivated, and helpful.

As this was their last week in China, we inadvertently found ourselves on a tour of the Hatsune Empire.

I’ve heard a lot of people make comments about this summer in Beijing. For the few of us remaining who weren’t lucky enough to get away and travel abroad, we’ve been stuck to deal with an absurd amount of rain (I swear it only rained a total of 2 times my first year in Beijing from 2006-2007) and an overall unusually quiet summer. I guess it’s only natural that the year after the epic 2008 Olympics, Beijing’s summer 2009 is bound to seem quiet in comparison without the additional hordes of tourists, athletes, events, games, hype, and Olympic parties.

While it’s no surprise when it’s empty out during Beijing’s bitter cold winter nights, I’d expect a lot more people to spend their summer evenings out dining, drinking, enjoying the summer heat. But people seem just as content going home early to watch a DVD in the summer as they do in winter.

But is it quiet because people compare this summer to last year’s Olympic madness? Or is it quiet because many people have left Beijing for summer vacation? Or is it quiet because people are just waiting for a reason to come out?

After over a year of Banana Leaf in Solana’s Dining & Bar Street existing solely as signs that read “Coming Soon,” it finally opened its doors last week. All-Star Sports Bar & Grill finally has a neighbor!

When All-Star first signed its lease to begin construction a little over a year ago, Solana was a promising new destination, with a Californian style open-air complex with a shopping mall plus Dining & Bar street. Big names including Zara, Nike, Coldstone, Cro Bar, and even a Banyan Tree Hotel was meant to open just beside All-Star & Bling, (which would have been clutch for us to share their abundant supply of taxis for our guests as well).

While All-Star & Bling both opened according to schedule right before the Olympics, all of our neighbors continued to postpone and some actually back out of their leases completely (Banyan Tree). And the result: Solana suffered the “ghost-town” syndrome throughout Winter 2008 while the Village in Sanlitun quickly made a name for itself and became the new hub for all shoppers and diners.

Fortunately for Solana, spring brought along sunshine aplenty together with more and more pedestrians and consumers, making Solana a better known destination. Located right along a lake with gorgeous views of Chaoyang Park, Solana was sure to pick up in terms of traffic and word-of-mouth.

Turns Out – Enoteca (Located in The Place Shopping Mall), known for their fine wine selection, just served up another reason to extend your weekend stay – they just started a sweet weekend brunch! Shanghai’s ever-popular wine bar is now also a great Sunday Brunch destination. Who knew?

*Enoteca just launched a new menu 2 days ago and I’m a big fan of their brunch:

Perks from my job: Alan inviting me to tag along with him to a sweet Sake Tasting at Morio (Hotel G). It’s quite perfect timing that the great Taka Yamamoto chose this particular time to host a Sake Tasting at Morio – while Alan and I are in the midst or sorting out all the details for Haiku’s Sake Tasting on August 12!

Alan and I are both a little puzzled upon arrival as we are seated at a 2-person table, expecting that we’d be sitting together with a group in an isolated section for the sake tasting. I guess it was not meant to be a group thing.

Taka was great to introduce some very fine and exclusive sakes for the tasting – we tried 5 different sakes, which were paired with the first 5 courses (7 in total).